Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with impairment of large-scale brain networks, disruption in structural connections, and functional disconnection between distant brain regions. Although decreased functional connectivity has been thoroughly investigated and reported by existing functional neuroimaging literature, this study investigated network-based differences due to the structural changes in white matter pathways in AD patients. We hypothesize that diffusion metrics of disrupted tracts that go through cognitive networks related with intrinsic awareness, motor movement, and executive control can be utilized as biomarkers to distinguish prodromal stage from AD stage.

中文翻译：

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轻度认知障碍和阿尔茨海默病老年人网络中的白质差异

背景：阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 与大规模大脑网络受损、结构连接中断以及远处大脑区域之间的功能断开有关。尽管现有的功能神经影像学文献已经彻底调查和报告了功能连通性降低，但本研究调查了由于 AD 患者白质通路结构变化导致的基于网络的差异。我们假设，通过与内在意识、运动运动和执行控制相关的认知网络的中断束的扩散指标可以用作生物标志物来区分前驱阶段和 AD 阶段。